BRIDGEPORT, Pa. --
The top teams in the nation remain the same as Stanford
University and Occidental College held
onto their No. 1 preseason national rankings for a fifth week in a
row to top the Women's Varsity Top 20 and Division III Top 10 polls
released today by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. In the
CWPA polls, defending conference champion the University of
Michigan and Grove City College continue
to rate No. 1 in the league's Division I and Division III polls,
respectively.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and
administrators from around the country during the preseason and
each week of the season based on the cumulative results of each
team, the Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water
Polo Association Top 10 polls are released on Wednesday during the
season until the week following the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) Championship.

Women's Varsity Top
20

Stanford University remains a unanimous selection
at No. 1 in the nation as the Cardinal garnered 100 points to hang
on in the February 23 Women's Varsity Top 20 Poll.

Ranked No. 1 in the preseason (98
points), and the first two polls of the regular season (99 points),
the Cardinal clinched a unanimous spot on top of the poll two weeks
ago and remain the consensus pick as the top program in the
nation.

The first seven positions in the
poll remain the same from the February 16 balloting as the
University of Southern California,
University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA),
University of California, University
of Hawaii, Loyola Marymount University
and San Diego State University remain locked at
No. 2-7, respectively.

The first change in the Top 20
comes at No. 8 as the University of Michigan
slides in front of Arizona State University to
improve one position. ASU drops back to No. 9, while the
University of California-Irvine cracks the Top 10
to round out the top half of the fifth poll of the regular
season.

San Jose State
University slips out of the Top 10 to rate at No. 11,
while Long Beach State University assumes
full possession of the No. 12 position after sharing the spot with
California State University-Northridge last
week.

CSU-Northridge slides to No. 13,
with Hartwick College and the University of
California-Santa Barbara exchanging berths at No. 14 and
15.

The remainder of the Top 20 is
unchanged as Indiana University, the
University of California-Davis, the
University of California-San Diego,
University of the Pacific and Princeton
University complete the rankings.

The Division III Top 10 poll experienced no changes this
week as Occidental College continues to stand at
No. 1 with 99 points.

The University of
Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Colleges rank at No. 2-3 for another week, with
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and California
Lutheran University remaining at No. 4-5.

Whittier College,
Chapman University, Grove City
College, Carthage College (Ill.) and
University of La Verne round out the Top 10, with
Wheaton College receiving votes to miss out on
breaking into the rankings by 38 points.

The University of Michigan continues to stand on
top of the league poll as the three-time defending CWPA Eastern
Champions are a unanimous selection once again for the top position
in the CWPA Division I Poll.

Behind the
Wolverines, Hartwick College, Indiana
University, Princeton University and
Harvard University remain at No. 2-5,
respectively, as the top half of the poll did not undergo a
position change from the February 16 voting.

However, the backend of the
rankings experienced radical changes as the University of
Maryland and George Washington University
move up to No. 6 and 7, with Mercyhurst College
holding firm at No. 8.

Brown University and
Bucknell University complete the Top 10 as the
Bears and Bison are tied at No. 9.

2011 CWPA Division I Poll(Week 5 -
February 23)

Rank

Team

Feb. 16
Poll

Points

1

University of Michigan

1

100

2

Hartwick College

2

95

3

Indiana University

3

90

4

Princeton University

4

85

5

Harvard University

5

78

6

University of Maryland

7

75

7

George Washington University

9

71

8

Mercyhurst College

8

61

9 (T)

Brown University

10

60

9 (T)

Bucknell University

6

60

Women's Varsity CWPA Division
III Top 5

Defending conference champion Grove City College
remains at No. 1 in the CWPA Division III standings as the team
earned 98 points to edge out Carthage College for
another week in this week's balloting.

Grove City, which defeated Carthage
8-7 to win the first-ever Division III Eastern Championship last
season following the split of the women's CWPA varsity teams into
Division and Division III brackets, hangs on at No. 1 in part due
to the fact that the CWPA league structure will not begin until the
weekend of March 4-5 at Grove City.

Wheaton College,
Washington & Jefferson College and
Macalester College also retained their preseason
rankings, while Connecticut College received votes
to miss out on cracking the Top Five.